10 reasons why I like to work at home

There are so many benefits to working from home and in this blog post I intend on pointing out just a few of them. If you are looking to find out just why a person would decide to work from home, then you have most definitely come to the right place.

1) The first benefit is in the freedom it gives. When you work from your home office, you are not tied to a desk like some other office workers are. You have the freedom to do as you please, within reason. If you get writer block, you might decide to go for a 15-minute stroll to help relieve the symptoms of writers block. You will want to be disciplined at the same time, otherwise you risk not getting very much work done.

2) Another excellent benefit to home working is that you are ultimately your own boss. You are self employed and working for yourself and that gives all sorts of confidence boosts and helps you to focus on what you want, rather than what someone else requires of you.

3) I also love the fact that I can take my breaks as and when I like. There is no one there to say your break time is 10.30 am until 10.45 and make sure you are back at your desk by that time. Again, with this one, you will want to practice strict discipline, otherwise you could become lazy or idle and that would not be very good for anyone.

4) It can often be quite difficult to get the job you want. If you enjoy a subject like writing, for example, ideally you would want to find a job that includes some writing. That way you are doing something that you get enjoyment out of while at the same time being paid for it. Awesome.

5) A work from home position can have all kinds of great benefits, not least of all good rates of pay. Many folk are able to find a self employed, work from home position that pays twice as much as one could earn if they were working at a desk for someone else.

6) Tax relief benefits for household bills also apply to people working from home. This means that instead of having your usual £200 per month electricity bill, you can get up to 50% off that same bill by claiming work from home tax relief on your utility bills. You can apply the same for all sorts of things, including teas and coffees and even stationery and printing costs. Don’t forget you can also get tax relief on your mobile and landline telephone bills and this can ultimately save a substantial amount over the period of one whole year.

7) Many people seem to become much more productive when working from home. One of the main reasons for this is because they get interrupted far less from others around them. When in an office environment, staff can all too often get interrupted and this can have a negative impact on productivity levels. I used to wear a set of headphones to avoid being distracted every time one of my colleagues would speak because it was so difficult to remain focused. I have since learned to hear when I wanted to and ignore when I needed to but I am now able to do this in a way that is not unfriendly or impolite.

8) Sometimes an employer can get a higher level of loyalty and commitment from staff when they show they can trust the staff member to do tasks from home, especially from staff like single parents and suchlike. Sometimes single parents find working normal nine till five jobs simply impossible because of their commitments to their childcare. If an employer was to allow for this and let staff do some tasks from home when necessary, this can have a very positive impact on the relationship while mutually benefitting both parties.

9) When people work from home they often find that their overheads are much less than what they would be if they had to rent an office space. Not only do they save on rent and rates but they can also save significant sums of money on operating costs. Things like electric, phone and heating bills can all be included as areas where we find savings when we work from home.

10) Now, last but by no means least, cutting stress levels can be one of the awesome health benefits of working from home. Some people find that if they don’t need to navigate the public transport every morning and evening, that this in itself can help relieve stress. It can also knock several hours off the working day, which also helps lessen the pressure to some extent.

This article was written by Steve Mac on behalf of Blue Octopus, the UK’s number one online recruitment agency.